Hey All,
  Well as you've probably noticed...I don't write a lot on this thing - I'd much rather see each of you in person than communicate over this. But you know...sometimes that's not how our world works. I'm not really sure who's reading this, but for those who are...hello. I can't believe it's 2010!! The last decade has been one of change, mostly. I'm so thankful for what God has brought, and look forward to the next one with anticipation.
  Bringing in the new year was exciting. I flew in from MN and got back around 10pm. So then Hannah and I decided to go to a new year's eve party at a friend's house. We did and then left to walk back to the  car around 12:45am. Much to our chagrin...the car was totally gone. I believe my exact words were: "oh Shoot. Oh my gosh!" I was thinking about  the 2 guys smoking weed in the parking lot when we got  there. They had said: "hey you can park here b/c there's no sign, man". I had visions of them hot wiring the car and taking off. I called the towing place, however, and they had it. They were willing to release the car for$115. I remember when I heard the news that they did have the car I let out a big "OH PTL!" So then Hannah, MB, Maggie, and I all road on the metro around 1:30am over to where Mary Beth's car was parked. That was the most entertaining portion of the trip. People were totally smashed. One girl could not even stand up and had to be carried out of the metro. Wow! Remind me that I never want to get that drunk. Okay...so we get to MB's car and start driving to the towing location in Crystal City. Okay...the gps was saying it was right there, but there was nothing there but a public storage unit. I called the towing place (the phone is at a different location), and they said it was there behind the public storage. Oh my gosh...in Maggie's words it was "sketch city!" There was no one around, and there were no lights. We wouldn't have found it except I saw the towing  trucks from the highway. MB said she would wait for me as Hannah and I went back there to get the car. So I go back there and this guy is doing this towing operation out of his truck. He is behind a barbed wire fence, and there are 2 towing trucks there. They had about a dozen cars, and I saw mine quickly. I asked him if he got a lot of extra cars on a day like new years eve. He said that it was rather a quiet night. The guy in the towing truck was sitting there and he said : "Happy New Year" and grinned. Oh my gosh! Happy New Year is right!
   So despite not bringing in the new year in the most traditional way, it was lively! Never a dull moment. Here's to this year and the next decade. May God keep us in perfect peace and our minds stayed on Him!

Spring has sprung in DC, and as you can tell from this picture..."I'm lovin' it!"


  Another thing I'm loving is spending wonderful weekends with good friends...
  taking in cherry blossoms, eating portobello paninis at "Busboys and Poets"
  (as well as spicy, but sumptuous Indian food), and participating in makeover
  extravanganzas! I love my life. Thanks God!

This week my students won a marble party in class. That means that they filled up our whole marble jar (just a glass mason canning jar, really). They've been waiting all year to have a party, and they finally got one. What they voted on was a pajama/sleeping bag/reading day in class with waffles. It was great fun. I love reading day! So do they! Here are some cute photos for you all to admire. (-: